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KINGS ANNOUNCE CAPTAINS

by
Staff Writer
/ Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown will serve as Kings captain for the 2008-09 season, Kings head coach Terry Murray announced Wednesday. Murray has also named center Anze Kopitar and defenseman Matt Greene as assistant captains. The announcement was made exclusively on LAKings.com.

“Dustin has impressed me a great deal with his leadership,” said Murray. “He comes to the rink each day prepared and his on-ice work shows a great deal of focus. He has total commitment to this team.

“Anze is a high-performance player not only on this team but in our League. He shows great leadership through his effort and the way he plays the game. Matt is very vocal and he is energetic on the bench, on the ice and in the locker room. His tough, gritty work in the defensive zone is also a great example for all of our players.

“This was a difficult decision to make as we have a lot of quality candidates, but we, as an organization, are excited about the three players selected, and we believe they will help lead our club both now and in the future.”

Brown, 23, is the youngest captain in Kings history and the first American-born captain in franchise history. The 6-0, 207-pound native of Ithaca, New York, is set to enter his fifth season with the Kings, and last season he led the Kings with a career-high 33 goals. He finished third on the team with a career-high 60 points, was tied (with Kopitar) for the team lead in power-play goals (12) and he led the NHL in hits (311).

Originally selected by the Kings in the first-round (13th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Brown has played in 269 games with the Kings and has 139 points (65-74=139) and 205 penalty minutes. Brown also last season was selected by his teammates as the Most Inspirational Player (Ace Bailey Memorial Award) and the Most Popular Player as selected by the Kings Booster Club.

Kopitar, 21, is set to enter his third season with the Kings. The 6-3, 219-pound native of Jesenice, Slovenia, was an All-Star with the Kings last season as he led the Kings with a career-high 77 points and 45 assists, while finishing second on the team with a career-high 32 goals.

Originally selected by the Kings in the first-round (11th overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Kopitar has played in 154 games with the Kings and has 138 points (52-86=138) and 46 penalty minutes. He also last season finished tied for the club lead (with Brown) with 12 power-play goals and led Kings with 52 takeaways as he was selected as the Kings MVP (Bill Libby Memorial Award), the second youngest King to win the club’s MVP Award (20 years, 7 months, 12 days).

Greene, 25, is in his first season with the Kings after playing the last three seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. He was acquired by the Kings on June 29 with center Jarret Stoll for Lubomir Visnovsky.

Greene in 2007-08 recorded one point (an assist) and 53 penalty minutes in 46 games with Edmonton. In 2006-07 he played in 78 games and recorded 10 points (1-9=10) and 109 penalty minutes. In 151 career games, all with the Oilers, the 6-3, 233-pound native of Grand Ledge, Michigan, has 13 points (1-12=13) and 205 penalty minutes. He has also played in 18 playoff games, including the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006, recording one point (an assist) and 34 penalty minutes.